“I’m bored,” Grim said.
“Oh, don’t you start on now,” Moxie growled. Stones shifted beneath her feet and she pressed her hand against the wall of the cave — though perhaps calling it a cliff face might have been more accurate.
The slope was so steep that it may as well have been a sheer drop. Even a mountain goat would have struggled imnsely to try and find purchase on the rock. The only thing keeping Moxie secured were the thin vines twisting around her fingers and worming their way into the cracks in the stone.
“Can you bla ?” Grim asked. “I’m doing nothing. Nothing! While the Herald is out there sowhere, doubtlessly doing sothing!”
“You didn’t seem to have any problem with my company at any point in the past few months,” Moxie grumbled as she took another cautious step down, sending more vines into the wall beneath her feet. “You can be patient for a little bit longer.”
She looked down. The ground was still nowhere to be seen. For that matter, if it wasn’t for her domain, she wouldn’t have been able to make out anything at all. The cave was pitch black.
If it weren’t for the ancient imbuents scrawled into the walls of the cliff face she were pressed against, Moxie would have strongly considered a far faster thod of descent. She’d already been climbing for hours, and she didn’t even want to think about how long it had taken her to find this place.
“A month, give or take,” Grim said. “Unless you an overall ti spent rather than just for this particular excursion. If you do, it’s a hell of a lot longer.”
“Stop that,” Moxie said. “Don’t poke around in my thoughts.”
“I wasn’t poking around in anything. You just stopped climbing,” Grim replied. “Every ti you stop climbing, it’s because you were about to say sothing about how long you’ve spent chasing rumors and how this set of ruins is definitely going to be the missing piece you’re looking for.”
“It is.” Moxie huffed, then took another cautious step. She couldn’t afford to draw on any more magic than what she was already using. The imbuents deep within the stone were dormant, but only because nothing had triggered them yet.
The smallest overdraw of magic would bring the entire place crashing down around her. She’d found that bit out the hard way. This wasn’t the first ti she’d seen imbuents like these.
“Sure,” Grim drawled. “I think you’re just looking for excuses to avoid any interesting interactions. Why would you choose to shuffle through ancient catacombs in search of legends when you could be the legend?”
“Because legends have power,” Moxie replied as she continued her descent down. “Besides, you’re one to talk. Do I need to remind you how Noah found you in the first place? Because it certainly wasn’t sitting around in so tavern.”
“I’m special,” Grim said. “There’s only one of . You’re not going to find another one. Especially not down here. That’s not what you’re doing, is it? You’re not looking for another one of , are you?”
“One is more than enough, thank you very much. This is just good training. We know so little about Obsidia. Even with all the ti we’ve spent here… this place is foreign. I feel like a baby bird that’s just left the nest. If everyone is going to thrive here, then we need to learn.”
“Ah. Yes. Learn,” Grim drawled. “Commonly done through exploring ruins and searching for scraps of ancient knowledge when you could just spend that ti talking to so bored old woman in the countryside.”
Moxie paused her climb. The corners of her lips twitched. “Are you… jealous?”
“What do I look like to you?” Grim snapped. “So petulant child? I am displeased that you are wasting my ti. And what if we miss the tournant? That would be quite the waste. How would we find the others then?”
“We’re not going to miss the tournant,” Moxie said, starting back down the wall. “And so little old woman isn’t going to give the kind of answers I’m looking for. I’m looking to delve a bit deeper than that.”
This book was originally published on . Check it out there for the real experience.
Grim let out a long-suffering sigh. It was sowhat impressive. Books didn’t even need to breathe, but that didn’t seem to stop the massive grimoire from very loudly voicing its displeasure at any opportunity.
He was definitely jealous.
“I’m not looking to replace you, Grim,” Moxie said. “And even if I were, you’re not my book. I’m just holding onto you for Noah for a bit. There’s nothing at all to be concerned about. Or are you actually just missing Noah that badly?”
“I am irreplicable,” Grim said. “I have enough knowledge within to build a dozen libraries. Do you think I am capable of… missing soone? Pathetic. The Herald is—”
“I miss him too,” Moxie said quietly.
Grim paused. “Why would I care if—”
“We’re not going to find Noah by wandering aimlessly around Obsidia,” Moxie said. “You weren’t able to figure out exactly where he popped back up at. So that ans he’s looking for all of us. As long as you’re not holding out on , we don’t have a way to find him. Do we?”
“No,” the grimoire said. “I do not.”
“Then I’m going to be selfish,” Moxie said. “There’s ti until the tournant that I don’t plan to spend sitting around and waiting. I never had a chance to really set out and see the world back when I was in Arbalest under Evergreen’s thumb. And even if I had, I don’t think there was anything like this. Obsidia… it’s huge. Ancient. There’s so much lost knowledge just sitting around in wait. And I’m going to find it. You never know how useful information like this can be. We might even find lost runes. But it’s going to be a lot less exciting if you’re complaining the whole way down.”
Grim was silent for a second.
“Very well. We will seek the Herald out at the tournant? And not stop until we find him?”
“Do you really think I’d settle for anything else?” Moxie asked.
“No,” Grim replied. “I suppose you would not.”
“So you’ll stop complaining?” Moxie asked. “Because I’m doing this either way. There’s no way I’m going to give up once I’m finally free to do what I want… but it’ll be more enjoyable if you’re onboard.”
“I was not complaining,” Grim said with a huff. “I was simply observing so inadequacies.”
“I’m not going to grace that with a response,” Moxie said. She took another step down, then paused. A frown creased her lips. There was still no sign at all of the ground. This cave was deeper than any of the others she’d explored. Far deeper.
“Then perhaps we could do sothing a little more interesting than ambling down one step at a ti,” Grim said. “I would be more inclined to participate if there was more at stake.”
“You want to jump?” Moxie asked with a snort. “The fall would kill .”
“Not the fall. Falling is fast. Fun, even,” Grim said. “It’s the sudden stop that gets you.”
Moxie’s lips twitched. “You realize you’re stuck here forever if I get myself killed, right?”
“Trust ,” Grim said. “I am more than aware. Such a scenario cannot be allowed to occur.”
“Good. Just wanted to make sure,” Moxie said. “Then never let it be said that I don’t know how to compromise.”
And, with that, she released the wall and plumted down into the waiting darkness.
***
Noah yawned as he flopped back onto his bed. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed he’d ever slept in, but it certainly felt like it. He couldn’t rember the last ti he’d laid in proper sheets. It felt like a cloud.
He’d just chosen the first inn he’d spotted and promised the Innkeeper he’d pay in the morning. That had apparently been sufficient to get himself a room key. Noah didn’t worry too much about how he’d pay for the room.
Such things could be dealt with in the morning. For the ti being, he didn’t have interest in doing anything but laying back on his soft bed and letting the welcoming arms of sleep take him.
Noah didn’t even bother taking his clothes off. There was supposedly a bath included with the stay, but it would still be waiting for him tomorrow when he woke up.
He was finally out of the Beyond. Out of the Citadel. Sowhere in Obsidia, everyone was waiting for him. There was still the problem of figuring out exactly how he would find them… but compared to everything else he’d fought through to get here, that would be a trivial problem.
It was only a matter of ti.
Darkness prickled at the edges of his vision. It pulled his eyelids closed. Noah didn’t fight it. He let his pillow swallow him as the haze of sleep finally rose up to et—
Noah’s domain prickled a warning.
His eyes snapped open and he bolted upright.
But it was too late.
The window shattered. Fragnts of glass spun through the room as a dark blur streaked toward Noah, moving so fast that he didn’t even have a chance to try and call on his runes. It slamd into his stomach, tackling him out of the bed and sending him and the intruder tumbling across the ground with sothing between a surprised grunt and a pained wheeze.
Noah slamd into the wall with a loud thud. His attacker had wrapped themselves around him like a snake and were constricting as if to crush the life from his body. He grabbed for his runes, their power already burning through his veins in preparation—
And then he froze.
Even as his domain prickled in delayed recognition, he spotted the horns sprouting from the head of the person attached to him.
He knew those horns.
“Noah!” Lee exclaid, looking up at him from her hug with a huge grin. “I knew I slled you! You ca back!”
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